Fielding Woes Lead to Loss

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fielding woes hampered the WVU baseball team as it fell 9-0 to Ohio State on Tuesday evening at Bill Davis Stadium.

The Mountaineers (17-16) committed three errors in the first two innings and were never able to recover, finishing with four hits to Ohio State’s eight. The Buckeyes did not commit an error.

Despite taking the loss, senior right-hander Dan Dierdorff (1-4) had his second-consecutive quality start. Dierdorff allowed three runs, all unearned, on five hits in five innings, striking out five with two walks.

Two errors on failed pickoffs allowed Ohio State’s Joe Ciamacco to reach third base with no outs after leading off the bottom of the first with a single to center field. Ciamacco then scored an unearned run following a single to left field by Ryan Cypret to open the scoring at 1-0.

The fielding woes continued in the second inning with the Buckeyes able to extend their lead to 3-0. Ciamacco drove in a run on what appeared to be an error to second base, while he was then picked off on first to end the inning. During the run down after the pickoff, Troy Kuhn was able to score from third base to add an insurance run.

Two more errors in the bottom of the eighth inning led to a six-run frame by the Buckeyes, extending the lead to 9-0.

Back-to-back hits to lead off the seventh inning proved to be WVU’s best chance offensively. Tuntland hit a single into right field and was advanced to third on a double to left field by McBroom. Neither was able to score with Buckeye reliever David Fathalikhani retiring the next three batters.

Ohio State starter Brett McKinney was near perfect in five innings of work, allowing one hit with six strikeouts and one walk for his third win of the season. Ciamacco led the Buckeyes at the plate with two hits, one run and one RBI.

WVU continues a busy week on Wednesday, hosting Youngstown State at Hawley Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m., and live stats will be available via WVUsports.com.